Tag Archives: Georgia Architecture

Monticello Landmark Lost to Fire

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The Jordan-Lanier House in Monticello, Georgia, featuring prominent columns, set against a clear blue sky, with landscaped greenery in the foreground.

I first published this photograph (above) of Monticello’s Jordan-Lanier House in 2015. It was a well-known landmark just off the square downtown, though I never learned much about its history. I was saddened to get a message from my friend Aubrey Newby yesterday, noting that it was lost to fire on 11 May. As you can see from Aubrey’s photograph (below), nothing survived but the chimneys and the columns which defined the house. I don’t know any details about the fire, but wanted to share this news.

Ruins of the Jordan-Lanier House in Monticello, Georgia with standing columns and a chimney, surrounded by vegetation and a yellow caution tape.
Ruins of the Jordan-Lanier House, Monticello, Georgia. © Aubrey Newby

Monticello Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Hendrix High School, Dodge County

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Abandoned brick school house in Dodge County, Georgia, surrounded by overgrown vegetation and trees under a clear blue sky.

Someone from Dodge County recently reached out to me about documenting this historic school, located east of Eastman on Georgia Highway 46, and I was able to get a photograph of the side of the building. They identified it as the old Hendrix High School and stated it closed in 1957 when the Dodge County High School was built. It was possibly a comprehensive school, with all grades. That’s all I know for now. Rural schools were the norm until school consolidation in the 1950s and 1960s and many survive throughout the state.

Lovely Grove Baptist Church, Dodge County

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A view of Lovely Grove Baptist church with a tall steeple, situated beside a curved road surrounded by greenery and blue sky.

Lovely Grove Baptist Church is a historic congregation in Dodge County. I haven’t been able to locate a history, but the earliest burial I found in the cemetery was circa 1866.

Enigma High School Gymnasium

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A large wooden gymnasium with a peaked roof, set in a grassy area, surrounded by sparse trees under a clear blue sky.

The Enigma High School Gymnasium in Enigma, Georgia, was constructed in 1952 (according to an AI-generated response), along with a new cafeteria and kindergarten. Although the primary school building at the site—a large brick structure built in 1926—burned down in 1973, the gymnasium and cafeteria were spared. I believe a brick building in front of the gym may have been the cafeteria but haven’t been able to confirm.

Eclectic Cottage, 1910, Metter

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Front view of a white house with a black roof, surrounded by overgrown plants and grass.

Here’s another one of the Eclectic Cottages, located just north of the historic district. Like most examples in Metter, it has strong Victorian influences.

Eclectic Cottage, 1910, Metter

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A front view of a house with a large porch, featuring white columns and a red front door, surrounded by low shrubs and a well-kept lawn under a partly cloudy sky.

This is another example of the Victorian-inspired eclectic architecture found throughout Metter’s historic residential district.

South Metter Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Trapnell-Boyd House, 1909, Metter

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A charming historic house with a white façade, black roof, and a red front door, surrounded by green shrubs and a well-maintained lawn.

The Trapnell-Boyd House is one of the finest examples in Metter of this eclectic architectural style that dominated small Georgia towns around the turn of the 20th century. The overall appearance is Folk Victorian, but the tapered posts aren’t really Victorian at all.

South Metter Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Evans County Courthouse, 1923, Claxton

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Front view of Evans County Court House with a blue sky, featuring American and state flags, and landscaped yard.

The Evans County Courthouse was built in 1923 at a cost of $60,000, replacing temporary offices in the White Building. It was one of several in the area designed by prolific courthouse architect J. J. Baldwin.

National Register of Historic Places

Justice House, Fitzgerald

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A charming white two-story house with a steep roof and decorative gables, surrounded by lush greenery and flowering bushes.

For much of its history, this was the home of the Lawrence Earl ‘L. E.’ Justice (1908-1986) family. Mr. Justice was an insurance agent. Like many of the houses on West Central Avenue, it was likely built circa 1910-1920. Online property records date it to 1950, which is not correct.

Morris Baptist Church, 1900, Quitman County

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Morris Baptist Church near Georgetown, Georgia, with a green metal roof and a tall, pointed steeple, surrounded by greenery and a clear blue sky.

Morris Baptist Church was established in 1900 and this structure appears to be contemporary to that date. It is the last active landmark in the hamlet of Morris, southeast of Georgetown and Lake Walter F. George (Lake Eufaula), not far from the Alabama state line off US Highway 82.